Summer Adventure – Camping

We (my DD and I) are going camping this weekend for the first time! I’m a bit terrified, but luckily we are going with three other families who have all been camping before. So, I think we should be okay. I went to Amazon this morning and ordered a blow up mattress (I think I had to throw ours out because it had a slow leak), a sleeping bag (how did I not own a sleeping bag?!?) and a couple of lanterns (which will function as flashlights when home, which we needed for emergencies anyways). I’m borrowing a camp chair and a tent and will share another family’s camp stove. I’m working my way through camping lists on Pinterest trying to make sure I don’t look like a total rookie despite being a total rookie.

We camped a lot when I was younger, but we always had a trailer or van conversion that we slept in. We were definitely NOT tent campers. So, we had a sink and refrigerator in the van. We had beds. We didn’t have to “set up” anything when we decided to pull off and sleep for the night. I guess I was a bit spoiled. We spent many a night in a parking lot or a rest stop or something similar. If at a rest stop, we would get up and bust out the camp stove on a picnic table and make breakfast and then get back on the road. I loved the way we traveled. It was relatively simple and minimalist. We didn’t need a ton of stuff and could pick up things along the way. I want to capture that same simplicity for Bean. I am trying to decide if we can take the Prius or need to pay extra for gas and take the SUV. I am leaning towards the latter just because it would give us plenty of space, dirt roads would be easier to take and we could always sleep in there if everything went to hell. 🙂

We are going to a lake and I am already paranoid about her swimming in it. We will probably try to do more paddle boats and such to keep her dry but enjoying the water. The water will probably be too cold for her to spend much time in it anyways. I am sure we will have a grand old time. I am looking forward to sharing an experience that I really enjoyed as a child her age with her and I hope I can make many memories with her out in nature! I am also looking forward to taking books to read and not much else. No iPad, no laptop – I will take my phone, but I don’t expect to be able to use it much. It will be nice to have a tech vacation and see what we can do!

Wish us luck!

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Published by moreatforty

I am a forty-something, late-in-life mom looking to make the last half of my life as good or better than the first half. This blog is my record of that attempt. The successes, the failures and all the messy in-between. Old is a state of mind - and it just isn't sound!
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